Pages

Monday, February 4, 2013

I had this really great idea last year that it would be cool to stack up the books I read in a month and then post that picture with my monthly roundup post. And then I was like, "well, I should probably just wait till the new year to start because that would be more logical." And now it's January and I'm ready to post my roundup and I'm at work and haven't taken the picture. So maybe next year I'll actually follow through on that. I HAVE followed through on the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home plan and I will tell you all about it after I list the books I read.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Best American Non-Required Reading 2002
Darkness Visible by William Styron
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Ali in Wonderland by Ali Wentworth
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer
Half Empty by David Rakoff
Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Total books read: 12
Total pages read: 3197
Amount saved: $145.85

So, I mentioned at the beginning of the year I'd be following the schedule found at Home Storage Solutions called 52 Weeks to an Organized Home. I started off about a week behind, but I've caught up pretty quickly and I am SO pleased with my progress. I really wanted to simplify and get rid of "stuff" this year and this has given me the push I needed.

The first four weeks revolve around the kitchen - specifically determining what functions you want your kitchen to serve and getting rid of everything that doesn't support those functions. I am happy to report that I got rid of boxes of unused kitchen implements AND that my kitchen is now more clean and organized than it has ever been, including when we first moved in. I am slowly working on caulking my cabinets, but the organization and cleaning portion is complete. I can easily find and access everything I need and I have storage space to spare. It's a miracle.

Looking forward, February will be a slower month for me. Several of the weekly tasks won't apply to my life. I don't coupon and I don't really have any written recipes and my cookbooks are already organized, so those weeks won't require much. Hopefully I can use them to finish caulking my kitchen and work ahead on some of the more difficult weeks (organizing the garage?).

How were your Januaries? Anything exciting happen? Any great books read?

1 comment:

Gahhh, OK, I'm going to try this 52 weeks organizational tool. Wish me luck! I will be a bit behind, but I'm going to jump in full force in about two weeks. It seems like it's not too overwhelming. What I wouldn't give for an organized house. As always, you have the best info in your blog.